How Gravity Can Bend Starlight (IMAGE)

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

How Gravity Can Bend Starlight

Caption

This illustration reveals how the gravity of a white dwarf star warps space and bends the light of a distant star behind it. The Hubble Space Telescope captured images of the dead star, called Stein 2051B, as it passed in front of a background star. During the close alignment, Stein 2051B deflected the starlight, which appeared offset by about 2 milliarcseconds from its actual position.

Credit

NASA, ESA, and A. Feild (STScI)

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